The soldiers moved quietly and slowly in the darkness. They had been patiently preparing for this day for months. The time was now. They crept into the city in the cover of darkness. They knew the plan well. They had to get to the palace at the inner part of the city quickly – without anyone noticing. But first, there were miles of houses, marketplaces, and other buildings to get past on the outskirts of the city. Speed and stealth were the key in preserving their lives and the lives of their fellow soldiers.
The darkness of night was on their side but not only that. There was a festival in the king’s palace – drinking and revelry were in abundance. No one was the wiser to the impending doom and the swift change of power that would soon be had. It was almost as if God Himself had planned it.
Those details describe the events of chapter 5 from the perspective of the Medes and Persians. But they aren’t recorded in the Bible – they come from the Greek historian Herodotus in the 400s BC. He wasn’t the only one to write about the fall of Babylon, either. King Cyrus compiled his own document as well as Xenophon, another Greek historian. It’s amazing that the details given in these records fit with Daniel’s description in chapter 5. It’s modern proof of Biblical inspiration at work.
Many wonder how the mighty city of Babylon could fall so quickly and unexpectedly. Indeed, Herodotus records that the Babylonians had food stockpiles to last years – which is why they retreated to the city after suffering and earlier defeat in open battle. The Babylonians planned to see if Cyrus could be as patient as they could. But the Persian king had already thought several steps ahead. He realized that the Babylonians could hold on much longer than he was able to. The Euphrates river ran beneath the capitol city, providing an endless water supply for drinking and growing crops. It was the lifeblood of the Babylonians, the source of their confidence just as much as their mighty walls. But it was also the very weakness that Cyrus exploited.
As Herodotus records, Cyrus had ordered his soldiers to dig several canals off the main river system long before. Initially, this was for the purpose of crossing the river, but in time it served a greater purpose. Over time, the mighty river which once flowed with such a stronger current that it would sweep away man and beast, slowly retreated to a more manageable depth that was about the height of a man’s thigh. The Babylonians probably were none the wiser, knowing that the river could never be fully damned up. And so, when the appropriate night came, the Persians executed their plan, and crept into the city through the river – and remained undetected all the way up to the King Belshazzar’s palace.
It’s quite an incredible story, right? But, Daniel provides us even more amazing details with an eyewitness perspective from inside the hall where the feast was taking place. While we don’t know the reason for this celebration, what was clear was that Belshazzar wanted to make this event very special. Therefore, he called his servants to bring the confiscated items from Solomon’s temple. When Nebuchadnezzar demolished the temple (586 B.C.) he brought back the sacred items that were contained inside. We have no reason to believe that Nebuchadnezzar would have sanctioned the disrespectful use of these items as Belshazzar currently was. For all we know, Nebuchadnezzar held them in high esteem and did not want to offend the Jewish people in his kingdom. When Solomon dedicated the Temple and all its furnishings, he declared that the sole purpose of these items was that all the peoples of the earth would know the name of the true God and follow Him by faith. Although the Temple itself was long ago destroyed, these gold and silver items still had this sacred significance. They had been ordained to serve God and honor His name, and they were now being used in drunken mockery.
This mistake by Belshazzar was really just the tip of the deeper pride that lingered in his heart. Daniel, in great boldness, chastised the king by reminding him that he should have known better, having been brought up with a knowledge of the true God’s mighty works in Babylon. Daniel said (v.22), But you, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this (the accounts of Nebuchadnezzar). And so entered the LORD’s sign of judgment – the writing on the wall.
What a change in the scenery took place at this pivotal moment. Belshazzar was content to trust in his power. He was presently partying, even with a foreign invader sitting outside his gates. Belshazzar was so confident he desecrated the Temple vessels as a sign of his power. He was communicating his control of the situation – probably seeking to portray an outward show of confidence. But in one instant, he was exposed for the coward that he was.
v. 6: Then the king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.
v.9: Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished. What occurred here had been depicted long ago in Psalm 2: Why do the nations rebel and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the LORD and His Anointed One: 3 "Let us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their restraints." 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them. 5 Then He speaks to them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath.
This psalm was not directly prophesying of Babylon’s fall, but it accurately reveals the motivations and intentions of the human heart that were at the core. Soon, before the night was over, before the drunken state of the party had even ended, Belshazzar would be dead. His kingdom would be overthrown. Masters would become slaves. From man’s perspective it surely must have seemed like an event beyond anyone’s control – utter chaos and turmoil. But, God’s plan was unfolding in matchless perfection. He knew this day would come, even before His people became the subjects of Babylon. He knew how the Persians would fall too, and the next nation after them, and so on it goes up to our day.
Long is the list of people who have boasted in their moment, without considering God’s eternal perspective. Equally long is the list of people who have resorted to desecrating God’s Word as a sign of their personal power. How many people today openly defy God – claiming He doesn’t exist? How many more live their lives without a care in the world about whether He is real or not?
You must never underestimate the depravity and depth of human pride. You must never minimize the existence of such an evil in your own heart. How many lessons on pride have we seen – just in the first five chapters of Daniel – so far? How much more witness is present to its danger in the rest of Scripture? And yet, pride is often the very first sin we minimize in our hearts. “I’ll know better.” “I’ll be stronger.” “I’m a better Christian.” “I won’t treat God like that.” Long is the list of false assurances from lips and hearts of sinful men and women.
How might God act in our time? What might His tireless faithfulness demand that He show us to snap us out of our pride – what writing on the wall? Are we immune to His voice – to His power? Will we also be caught in the drunken stupor of self-reliance, care, and pleasure when the eternal King enters our city? Consider this. At every point in Scripture where God intervenes, where He chooses to enter time and space, to break and bend the natural way of things – the majority of people are caught off guard. Don’t become numb to such thinking. A life that is filled with wealth, ease, control, and self-chosen outcomes is the breeding ground for pride. And it is truly a measure of God’s love that He would act, even in stern judgment, to preserve us from such an end.
“Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.” The writing on the wall. The four simple words of divine judgment on King Belshazzar. Numbered. Weighed. Divided. Like a slab of meat on the butcher’s block, Belshazzar’s end had come. The long reign of Babylon was over. Their years of power were now exhausted. The Babylonians were weighed in the balances of God’s justice and found wanting – a conclusion no one desires. And the unity, wealth, and power they had accumulated would now be divided like the nations they had conquered years before. The defiance against God that filled Belshazzar at the beginning of the chapter, was now completely emptied at the end.
Whether or not you like it – you too stand in the balances of God’s justice.
Matthew 12:35-37 “A good man produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil man produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Romans 14:11-12 "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." 12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
Even today, you are weighed by God, an accounting of your life in view of His holy Word.
Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living
and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as
the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the
ideas and thoughts of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from Him, but all
things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an
account.
[By words we stand judged, but also by words we stand redeemed – the
words of grace in Jesus]
A foreign invader prowls outside the doorway of your heart too – no nation, but the author of evil himself, Satan. He stalks like a lion – ready to pounce upon a hapless victim at any moment. This is not some fairy tale meant to inspire fear and obedience, but the stark truth of reality meant to scare you out of your pride. God doesn’t need to intimidate you into believing in Him – He uses a much better way – His love and forgiveness.
When your days are numbered and up, when your righteousness is weighed and found wanting before God’s justice, and when you are divided from all other constraints of mind and body – laid bare before the almighty and eternal God – there is One who steps in between you and the holy wrath of God – Jesus.
And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Where Jesus stands in – the debt it paid. The sinner is brought back to God. True unity with God is achieved and never broken. Leave pride behind.
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